Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor is among the rockers who criticized streaming services.
During a recent chat with GQ Reznor said that the payment methods used by streaming platforms ‘mortally wounded’ musicians. He explained:
“I think the terrible payout of streaming services has mortally wounded a whole tier of artists that make being an artist unsustainable.”
He added that you can only survive if you are Drake:
“And it’s great if you’re Drake, and it’s not great if you’re Grizzly Bear. And the reality is: Take a look around. We’ve had enough time for the whole ‘All the boats rise’ argument to see they don’t all rise. Those boats rise. These boats don’t. They can’t make money in any means. And I think that’s bad for art.”
Some Streaming Services Are ‘Tied To Political Things’
Reznor used to work for one of the big streaming companies. Back in 2013, he teamed up with music executive Jimmy Iovine at Beats Music. The company was later bought out by Apple Music.
The company is said to pay artists around $0.007 to $0.01 per stream.
In his chat with GQ, the NIN singer talked about what he learned from that experience:
“And I thought maybe at Apple there could be influence to pay in a more fair or significant way, because a lot of these services are just a rounding error compared to what comes in elsewhere, unlike Spotify where their whole business is that. But that’s tied to a lot of other political things and label issues, and everyone’s trying to hold onto their little piece of the pie and it is what it is. I also realize, I think that people just want to turn the faucet on and have music come in. They’re not really concerned about all the romantic sh*t I thought mattered.”
Nine Inch Nails Is Releasing New Music
During the same interview, Reznor and Atticus Ross shared details about several upcoming projects. These include a new Nine Inch Nails album, a music festival, and the launch of their own production company.
In March 2020, Nine Inch Nails unexpectedly dropped two new albums: ‘Ghosts V: Together’ and ‘Ghosts VI: Locusts.’ These albums feature a total of 23 new instrumental tracks and were described on NIN’s website as ‘two different records for two different mindsets.’
Ross shared his emotions on the new album:
“I do feel excited about starting on the next record. I think we’re in a place now where we kind of have an idea.”
In 2022, the rockers were featured in Health’s new single titled ‘Isn’t Everyone.’ The next album will be their first new music since then. You can hear the song below.